HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2003-05-06 Regular 05/OG/03 2007
STATE OF TEXAS )(
CfTY OF FRIENDSWOOD )(
COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )(
MAY 6, 2003 )( . � �
MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON
MONDAY, MAY 6, 2003 AT 7:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S.
FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD,TEXAS,WITH THiE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A
QUORUM:
MAYOR HAROLD L. WHITAKER
MAYOR'PRO l"EM TRACY GOZA
� COUNCILMEMBER KITTEN BRIZENDINE
COUNCILMEMBER KIM BRIZENDI�E � �
COUNCILMEMBER SHANNON KIMMEL
COUNCILMEMBER MEL MEASELE3 �
� CITY ATTORNEY LOREN SMITH
CITY MANAGER RON COX
CITY SECRETARY DELORIS MCKE_NZIE
Counciliriember Jer�y Ericsson was absent from the meetiny.
Mayor Whitaker called the meeting to order.
REGULAR SESSION
The Invocation was given by Pastor Rick Baldwin from Frien.dswood Comi�unity Criurch.
Mayor Whitaker led the Pledge of Allegiance to fhe United States and to the State af Texas,
��- COMMUNIGATIONS FRQM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMiEMBERS
Councilmember fVieaseles stated that he has enjoyed serving with Councilmei�nber Kitten Brizendine siilce �
1991, He stated he has served wifh 3 Mayors and Mayor Whitaker has been an inspiration and;has held the
office of �ayor in the highest integrity and thanked hirn for liis service to tf�e community, offered
congratulations to the newly elected oificials, David Smith who he metwhen he wo.rl<ed with the Friendswood
Fine Arts Council and helped start Concert in the Park �nd is looking forwarr� to working with them,
Councilmember Tracy.Goza who was re-elected and .is glad to work with hirr� again, newly elected
Councilmember Laura Ewing who worked with ihe Community Appearance �oard, has always been
impressed with her energy and enfhusiasm and looks forward to working with her, Kim Brizendine will be the
4"' Mayor for him to have served with and looks forward to working with him to accomplish the dreams and
goals of this Council and the citizens and can count on him for support in these endeavors.
Councilmember Shannon Kimmel thanked everyone that ran, welcomed newly elected officials, stated
candidate Robin Hall ran a good campaign, looks forv✓ard to working with CouncilmE�mber David Smith, hates
to see Mayor Whitaker anel Councilmember Kitten Brizendine leave and is looking fc�rward to working with the
new Mayor, Kim Brizendine, and everyone on Council.
Counciimember Kitten 3�izendine stated she wanied to re���ember her father for his patriotism and the desire
to serve he instilled in her, her Mom for her compassion and gentle spirit that she p<�ssed on to her, although
05/06/03 2008 �
there are some who would say that there is a tige�r there also,thanked daughter Heather for herwillingness to
share her Mom, especially during the early years,and their husbands James and Joe who came into their lives
and held their hands, ancl both of their wonderfu.l families who have so fully embraced them, thanked fellow
Councilmembers for the many shared experiences, two wonderful Mayors, Evelyn Newman, who was her
mentor, and Harold Whitaker for the strong yet fair leadership they have sbown, the declicated Staff of fhis
unique City, City Manager Ron Cox for his professionalism and especially City Secretary Deloris fVlcKenzie for
all of her guidance and enduring friendship and finafly thank fhe cifizens of Friendswood for having enough
faith to allow her the privilege of serving them and for this she is truly grateful and blessed. To the new Mayor
and Council she wished wisdom to make needed decisions and the strength of characfer to uphold the duties
of the office to which they have been elected, and stated God bless you all in our Cii:y. ��`'
Mayor Whitaker made a special presentation to Councilmember Kitten Brizendine, presented a bouquet of
spring flowers, s�oke aboufi her 11 years of seruice to the Cify, stated she was leaving Council because of the
� term-limits policy and further stated that in all of her years in Council she was the conscience of.the Council.
She always knew everything they did and alwa�� reminded them they had to look at it from the side to malce .
sure that what they were doing was in the best interest of every citizen, and stated to her that she is loved and
appreciated for what she has done for fhe Cify.
Mayor Whita{�er than{ced �veryone for their sup;port for the last 6 years and st��ted Ehat when he began as
Mayor he said he wanted t.o be a resource for City Staff and Council so they could reach the levels that each
of them aspired to, to drive decisions to the highest level and to ask everyone to be accountable for what they
did and to do the best job they could, stated hP feels everyone did a great job and i;� proud of every one of
them, is pa'rticularly pleased Eo sit beside the next Mayor, Kim Brizendine,who is a great man, is glad the City
has someone of his caliber leading the City which makes tne decision to leave easier and is proud of him. He
stated I�e is also proud oi e;veryone that ran, it is a special person that would step up and serve, these are fihe
greatest Councilmembers in the world and the best Staff in the State of Texas.
Mayor Whifaker reporfed i:haf Courci!member'Ericsson is serving in Washington, w�311<ing the halls with Bay
Area Houston Economic Partnership on NASA's Keep It Sold Program and sent his rE�grets that he would not
be able to attend and is doing his duty and has done that for several years and done a greatjob.
RESOLUTIONS
**Councilmember Kitten Brizendine moved to ap�rove Resolutio.n No..R2003-23-A Re�solution canvassing the
returns and declaring the results of the General Election held May 3, 2003,for the purpose of electing a Mayor
and two (2) Councilmemb�rs to the City Council of the City of Friendswood, and canvassing the retums and
. declaring the results of the Special Election held:on May 3, 2003,for the purpose of elE�cting a Councilmember
for an unexpired ferm ending May 2004 (Position No. 4). �
For the position of Mayor-�Jeffrey Lee Branscome 1059 and Kim Wayne Brizendine 2.116 votes. Position No.
1 -John Co'le 357, Robin Hall�1111, Laura Ewin,g 1577. Position No. 3 -Tracy Goz�2325. Position No. 4 -
David J. H. Smith 2291.
Seconded by Councilmerr�ber Goza, The motion was approved unanimously.
OATHS OF OFFICL
The Oaths of Office were,administered for the Mayor and Council Positions No. 1, �lo. 3, and No. 4. Judge
Woltz administered the oath and swore in David J.H. Smith for Council Position No.4, Laura Ewing for Council
Position No. 1, Tracy Goza for Council Position No. 3, and Kim Brizendine for Mayor.
Mayor Kim Brizendine introduced himself and the new Council.
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Mayor Brizendine made a special presentation to Mayor Whitaker and Councilmernber Kitten Brizendine in
which he presented each with a Key To The City.
-" City SecreEary Deloris McKenzie staEed tliat she would like ta thank Mayor Whitaker from the depths of her
heart for his leadership, mentoring and support. Ms. McKenzie further stated that he supported the employees
when they were at the lowest and taken them to the top, empowered them and�gave them strength and he is
leaving them strong. The City Secrefary's ofiice will miss his humor, kindness, generosity and coming in every
day and geiting M & M's at 3:30 pm, thanked his wife, Ann, fo:r being kind enough to share him 6 years ago
wl�en she could have been traveling the Caribbean and going on trips. She further stated that she has served
wifh Coun.cilmember Kitten Brizendine for 11 years and they became very good friends, shared many Mother
stories, being-single days stories, their happiness in finding the loves of their.lives, their husbands, as a
Councilmember she has been very wise and has done so mu;ch for, the citizens of Friendswood, thanked her
for all of her 11 years with City Council and as her true friend. '
City Manager Ron Cox stated he has been able to work wifh a lot of Councilmember;s over tfie last 25 years as
a City Manager in Texas, there have been 40 or 41 during that time. Little did he knc�w half of his careerwould
be in tl�e City of Friendswood. In November of 1990 when he:came to the City; KittE�n Brizendine was not yet
on Councii buf was elecfed in May of 1991. She has been true to Friendswood, herself, and to the employees
, of this City. On behalf of the employees of the City, he woulcl lilce to thank her for her service, kindness and
grace. He further stated he wouid like to thank Mayor Whitaker for his service, displays great integrity,wisdom
and advice. There are f�w peopie in your lifetime you can rank as a mentor and friend and has now added
Harold Whital<er to his list. He thanked Mayor Whitaker for his leadership a�nd counsel, what he said 6 years
ago is wl�at he did, he allowed Staff to have vision. �
Mayor Brizendine thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve as the next Mayor, is confident and optimistic
about his tenure as Mayor because of the qualily, fntelligence and commitmer�t of this Council, thinks tl�is
Council is a great group of people who have great sacrificial hearts and show an uncanny commitment to do
what is best for the City of Friendswood, there is much to celebrate in the City�of Friendswood, the City Sfaff
are excellent and have done an excellent job and hopes this Mayor and Council will continue to support them
in pursuing an even higher level of excellence for the citizenship, wou(d like to thank City Secretary Deloris
McKenzie and her Staff who prop them up and who direct the:m on almost a daily b7sis and they could not be
as effective as they are if they did not have that kind of support, has full �onfid€�nce in tl�e Friendswood
Volunteer Fire Departrri�:nt, the Police Department under the leadership of Chief Bob Wieners and his Staff,
the City has a great Chamber of Commerce, the City has great relationships with Friendswood Independent
School District and Clear Creek Independent School Districi:, with room for improvement there has been a
betterjob of coi�nmunicating and taking information to the citizens, the effort wiil be continued to bridge some
of fhe communicafion issues fhat were raised in fhe recen�campaign. He further stated he would like to tell
everyone a little about #�imself, his philosophy is patterned from the Rotary Four-Way Test, which is 4
statements, wi#h the first being, Is It The Truth. We pledged as a Mayor that he�will always tell the truth even if
it is not what someone wants to hear, will get fo the boftom ofi things to fhe truth, will also ask Is It Fair To All
Concerned, and stated this is his guiding principle to always treat citizens with respect even if their opinions
differ, also ask Will It Build Goodwill And Better Friendships, which is the crux of gpod City government, this
Mayor and Councif wifl work very hard fowards devefoping fhaf goodwif(and developing the relationships that
will endeavor to help Friendswood move into the future, also ask Will It Be Beneficial To All Concerned, and
stated he always looks sacrifieiaily to do what he thinks is bes:t for the greater good,i:hat is coming to each and
every decision or issue, no matter how comolicatecl, with no agenda and seeking what is besf for all, he
pledges this and speaKs o„ behalf oi Council, he is ep�osed to whatever tends ta degrade Friendswood's
citizenship, cifizen5 should rise above judging those based on political affiliaiions or whether they are
conservative or fiberai from a religious sfandpoinf and citizen�shou(d nof be sw.ayed by fhose outside the City
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that have some sp�cific �genda with information that would bring harm and slander to those that offer �
fhemselves fo public servic,e,thanked candidafes Robin Ha((, John Coie and the ofhers that stepped fonn�ard fo
ofi�er themselves for public service, there are many downsides and a lot of positives too,thanked everyone for
his 5 years of being a City Councilmember and is blessed beyond belief with who he has met and worked with,
can only be only as effective as the Council thai�tands beside you, and to do what is best for the community,
is very blessed to have vf�ry strong supporters and very strong supporters i'n his family and City Council,
mal<es a commitment to vvork very hard to communicate and take the brilliance that his mentor and good
friend Harold Whita{<er broughf to the City and take it beyond,will do everything he can to preserve all Ehat is
good about the Cify, being it's heritage and the honor of whaf is foved about this City and thanked everyone for
this opportunity.
Councilmember Tracy Go;ra stated he would like to recognize his wife Kim, his children, and his Mom and Dad
for giving him time away from home and work to serve the citizens of Friendswood and has really enjoyed it,
thanked Mayor Whitaker who he served with for 2'/z years and has come to appreciate his ability to effectively
lead this Council, has learned a tremendous amount and feels privileged to have had the opportunity to serve •
with such a great and well-respected man, recognized Councilmember Kitten Brizendine for her many years of
service Eo the City and told the story of when he was first elected Councilmember Kitfen Brizendine took him
aside and outlined some additional freshman d�uties that were not told to him by the City Manager or City
Secretary in the orientation for new Councilmembers and that was, according to Kitten, it was his job to make
sure at every Council meeting that the pitchers of water on the dais were full, there were cups, and that the
candy dishes were full, and stated that to be assured he would pass on that same fist of responsibilities to
Councilmember Laura Ewing and Councilmem!ber David Smith and add a few of his own to those duties, and
now seriously, thanked Kit#en for all that she has done, it has meant a lot to him and made a great impact on
him, offered congratulations to Laura Ewing and stated he looks forward to working with her and getting to
know her, thanked candid�tes Robin Hall and John Cole for running a good, clean race, congratulated David
Smith, thanked City Manager Ron Cox and 'City Secretary Deloris McKenzie and City Staff, offered
congratulations to new Mayor Kim Brizendine for what he considers one of the most successful campaigns he
has ever been involved in, not based on 'the vote count but on the fact that he brc�ught groups of people
together who at times had different goals and ideas about the City and looks forward to his effective leadership
and serving wifh him as Mayor.
Councilmember Laura Ewing stated this was.a hard race and hard campaign but it taught her a valuable
lesson in life, there were three people who ran positive races, but there seemed to be some who wanfied to
lurk in the shadows who decided the way to mold decision making was to spread rumors, tell untruths and to
fix labels to names, her best qualifications are that she cares about all�people, it does not matter what type of -
home they live in, neighboi�hood or socioeconomic status, she cares about all people. On FM 2351 there is a
Mefhodist church and the ia6el fhey affix fo that.is Chrisfian, wears many hafs at work and one of fhem is to
oversee the charact:er education program for st�adents at Pearland Independent School District, there are 6
pillars of character and tr�ose 6 pillars transcend and permeate all religious affiliations:, her challenge to
herself, other Councilmembers, City Staff, citizens and business people of the City are to model those 6 traits
for students and young �eople. The 6 traits ar�trustworthiness, respect, responsibi(ity, fairness, caring and
citizenship, she stated she is a good listener and if someone has something they want to say to her they can
have a face to face discussion and will make jur�icious decisions, would like to havE a 3-year term in which
those 6 pillars are truly respecfed, than{<ed John�Cofe and Robin Half for running a good campaign, John Cole
is a fine young man who went door to door in several neighborhoods seeking citizen's support, is also in
serninary school and wished him a very positive career as a minister, Robin is also a very fine individual and it
was fun to see her 2 girls campaigning and her husband campaigning by her side, Robin worked very hard on
her campaign, she studied and listened and ho;pes she will be running again in the future, recognized her
family, John, 6enjamin a�id iviillice��t for ;heir heip ar,d support during the campaign, has had �vonderful
support and guidance, th«nked Kim and Jo Beth Brizendine, Harold and Ann Whitaker, thanked a strong
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group of people that came together to help guide her campaign, including her family, long-time citizens,
Community Appearance Board,the Methodist church, co-workers, neighbors, City SECretary Deloris McKenzie
and her staff Linda Thornton, Karla Foster and Melinda Welsh, City Manager Ron Gox, Karen Capps, Police
Chief Bob Wieners and Fire Marshal Terry Byrd, thanked everyone for their support and will try her best to be
�� � a good representative for the City and knows she was elected because of some v�ry special people behind
tl�e scenes,
Councilmember David Smith stated on behalf of he and his wife Danyel he woufd like to thank Friendswood for
being a wonderful community, and as cifizens felt thaf it is fim�to give back,thanks for lhe support,there were
many people influential in liis decision for being here, thanke.d Kim Brizendine for his encouragement and
guidance, Haroid Whitaker for his words of wisdom, most of all there is a line of people that have been
involved in many civic organizafions, charify evenfs, Rofary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce that have been
influential not just in him being there but in the way thaf he thinks and the way that he knows, thanked
Friendswood Chamber of Commerce President Carol Jones and Events Coordinai:or Lucy Woltz, Justice of
fhe Peace Judge Jim Woltz, Joe and Mary Prihoda, and most of all fhanks to a lady that has guided his life
inany years, Evefyn Newrnan, who has given many years o�service to Friendswood and given back to lhe
coi�nmunity, looks forward fo serving wifh Mayor Brizendine and other Councilmembers and giving back to the
City as much as was given to him.
A reception was held immediately following the.meeting.
A motion was made and �pproved to adjourn at 8:00 PM.
�--�..,��-� ��� �1��...c�--�Q---_.__ u.�
Mayor Kimball W. Briz.endin—e U--
�
Deloris McKenzie, TRMC
City Secrekary